UPDATED: Midland petroleum engineer dies in plane crash in Utah

James Cannon | Staff Writer

Published 8:11 am, Thursday, April 26, 2012

Photo: Courtesy Cessna

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This Cessna 185 Skywagon is the same model owned by Midlander Kyle Richardson. The plane crashed in Utah on Wednesday, killing Richardson; his father, Wade Richardson, of Crockett County, and pilot, Larry Newby, of Price, Utah. less

This Cessna 185 Skywagon is the same model owned by Midlander Kyle Richardson. The plane crashed in Utah on Wednesday, killing Richardson; his father, Wade Richardson, of Crockett County, and pilot, Larry ... more

Photo: Courtesy Cessna

UPDATED: Midland petroleum engineer dies in plane crash in Utah

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A Midland man, his father and their pilot reportedly have died in a airplane crash in Utah.

The single-engine Cessna 185, owned by Kyle Richardson, of Midland, went missing about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to Federal Aviation Administration records and a press release from the San Juan County (Utah) Sheriff’s Office.

The San Juan County Sheriff's Office said it was not releasing the victims’ names pending a positive identification by medical examiners, although Ozona deputies notified Richardson’s family locally and Midland police officers notified at least one of his Midland neighbors Thursday afternoon, according to Associated Press reports and Ryan Stout, interim public information officer with the city of Midland.

Richardson’s father, Wade Richardson, of Crockett County, also was on the plane when it went down, according to The Ozona Stockman.

According to people who knew the Richardsons, the pilot, of Utah, was hired by the Texas men for a sightseeing tour of the southern Utah canyons.

The FAA released a tail number that shows the plane was registered to Kyle Richardson.

He was on a recreational trip with his father, a rancher from Ozona, according to the Utah pilot’s employer. His Midland neighbor, Marietta Metcalf, told The Associated Press he was a 28-year-old petroleum engineer.

“We are heartsick,” Metcalf said. “He was just an absolutely sharp, good-looking kid who had an amazing life ahead of him.”

“We are heartsick,” Metcalf said. “He was just an absolutely sharp, good-looking kid who had an amazing life ahead of him.”

The Richardsons flew into Price, Utah, on Wednesday and hired pilot Larry Newby to serve as a guide for the backcountry tour, said Mark Francis, the pilot’s brother-in-law and owner of Redtail Aviation.

Newby worked for Redtail Aviation, and it was his portable GPS beacon that transmitted the plane’s last known coordinates, said Francis, who visited the remote crash site more than 200 miles south of Salt Lake City.

It wasn’t clear who was flying the plane because Newby and Kyle Richardson both were pilots, Francis said.

Newby “was a good man and will be missed by a lot of people,” Francis said.

Wade Richardson and his wife, Jane, are Crockett County ranchers and the owners of several Dairy Queen restaurants in West Texas, including the one in Ozona. The Richardsons have another son Clay, who lives in Ozona with his wife, Andi, and newborn baby, West; and a daughter, Codi Kingman, who lives in Temple with her husband, Taylor. All three Richardson children are graduates of Ozona High School, according to the Ozona newspaper.

When Red Tail Aviation had not heard from the pilot in several hours, staff contacted the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office and the Utah Highway Patrol Aero Bureau searched the last known GPS coordinates that were received by a spot beacon and on Thursday discovered the wreckage, the release stated. There weren’t any survivors.

The plane took off from a small backcounty air field near Dark Canyon Wilderness. After take-off, the plane flew east and crashed about one mile from the air strip. The victims were airlifted to the nearest highway where they were moved into EMS vehicles and taken to the Salt Lake City’s medical examiner’s office.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash. A preliminary report may be released in a few weeks, but the final report usually takes several months.

The Associated Press and The Ozona Stockman contributed to the report.